Los Chinches

Los Chinches

Los Chinches is a London-based group formed in 2009, drawing on chicha from 1960s Peru and combining it with Peruvian cumbia, ska, punk, garage rock and surf guitar. Their sound follows the style of Peruvian bands such as Juaneco y Su Combo and Los Mirlos, while also reflecting the energy and attitude of London.

The line-up reflects a mix of European and Latin American musicians: four Europeans, including three from England and one from France, and four Latin American percussionists, including three Peruvians and one Colombian. Gareth Finnegan plays rhythm and lead guitar and first encountered chicha in the Peruvian Amazon. He later works with principal songwriter Marty Shtrubel on guitar and vocals, and Eleni Hassabis on keyboards. The band also includes güiro player and frontman Carlos “Kanti Kena”, who is active in the London scene with his Andean fusion band Lokandes.

After personnel changes, the group adds Colombian timbale player Alejandro Martinez, Peruvian percussionist Kieffer Santander on congas, DJ and producer Nelson “Papa Chango” Marquez on bongos, and electric bassist Thibault Remy, who is also a multi-instrumentalist and bandleader/songwriter for Afro fusion group Awalé.

Los Chinches perform across London at club nights, folk events and rock and roll venues, and appear at La Linea at the Barbican. They also play at Cargo, Rich Mix, Glastonbury, Bestival, The Big Chill and WOMAD, and tour the Netherlands. The group’s debut album is Fongo, released on Movimientos Records.

The title Fongo refers to a mysterious deity described by the band as a visionary and clown associated with jungle liquor and Amazonian women, and the album is presented as a way of channelling the spirit of chicha.